I first met Om Abdu during the (largely women) protest in Abdeen Sq. in December of last year.

For sure Om Abdu last evening was a different woman.

She was hypermanic, showering me and other activist bloggers with hugs and kisses, pulling us from one flat to another, showing us with pride their new places, shouting loudly at her shy son who didn’t want to be photographed initially. “Come and show the world your new home ya wad!” yelled Om Abdu.

The only concern the Kafr Elw residents have now is that though they received their keys and fully settled in their new flats, they have not received yet their official ownership contracts. “We were told either mid or end of Ramadan we’ll get them,” said Om Abdu. “We still haven’t heard back from them (Helwan Governorate). We hope to receive them by Eid.”

Try to spend sometime browsing the set of pix I took of the residents last December, when their struggle started, and the one taken by Farah. It’s easy to identify the women and men from last year, but their facial expressions differ. In my set, which was taken at the beginning of the saga, the residents’ faces were full of anger, defiance as well as panic, sadness and concern. In Farah’s, their faces are just the purest form of happiness and joy following their victory.

Mabrouk once again for the Kafr Elw residents.

After nine months of campaigning since last December, demonstrations, clashes with the police and Suzi’s pigs, the Kafr Elw victims will be receiving their new flats from the Maadi local council today 10am, 77 el-Maadi el-Qadima Street, in front of el-Rayyan hospital.

Mabrouk! Demonstrations and strikes are indeed the only language the government understands.

The homeless families of Kafr El-Elew staged an all-day sit-in on Monday outside the Cabinet building to pressure the Cairo governorate to grant them housing.
The 24 families, who are now living in tents in the streets, had their homes torn down last September to make way for a water plant. Monday’s sit-in was the most recent in a series of demonstrations highlighting their case. They were joined by lawyers from El-Nadim Center and The Egyptian Center for Housing Rights.
Families were intending to spend the night outside the Ministers’ Council, despite, as they claim, unmasked threats from security to remove them by force after nightfall.

Journalist Per Björklund has some photos.

UPDATE: Click on the pic below for more details about the protest.